Location
Digital Teacher Education (Session 5 Breakouts)
Proposal Track
Practice Report
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
With the call for critical thinkers and problem-solvers, primary and secondary educators are encouraged to use student-driven instruction and performance-based assessment. At the same time, teacher education programs often include lecture-based delivery with formal papers as the primary form of assessment. The changing landscape of virtual learning in the era of Covid-19 provides an opportunity to refine teacher education to mirror the same research-based practices suggested for primary and secondary classrooms. Within a participatory action research model, this author shares the experience of delivering an online graduate-level curriculum design course framed in student choice. Education Specialist candidates chose content and assessment methods throughout the four-week course. Participants included this author and 37 in-service educators enrolled in two sections of the same course at a private college in the southeast. An on-going online discussion forum about the course design was the primary data source in the analysis of best practices for implementing choice in an online teacher education course. Student feedback, student work and instructor notes also contributed to the findings. In order for student choice to result in mastery of course standards, this author and participants suggest standards-based organization, clear assignment expectations and structured synchronous meetings are essential.
Keywords
teacher education, digital learning, student-directed learning, student choice, performance-based assessment
Professional Bio
Aimee Cribbs worked as an elementary educator in Georgia’s Title I schools for 20 years. She served as a general classroom educator, art specialist and reading and math interventionist. After leaving the classroom, she was an adjunct instructor of graduate education at Piedmont College, educational research at Morningside College and a teacher candidate site supervisor at Dalton State College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Education at Dalton State, where she specializes in classroom management instruction. Her research interests are varied and include teaching creativity and teachers as instruments of education reform.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Cribbs, Aimee M., "The Power and Purpose of Choice in Digital Teacher Education" (2020). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 70.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2020/2020/70
Included in
The Power and Purpose of Choice in Digital Teacher Education
Digital Teacher Education (Session 5 Breakouts)
With the call for critical thinkers and problem-solvers, primary and secondary educators are encouraged to use student-driven instruction and performance-based assessment. At the same time, teacher education programs often include lecture-based delivery with formal papers as the primary form of assessment. The changing landscape of virtual learning in the era of Covid-19 provides an opportunity to refine teacher education to mirror the same research-based practices suggested for primary and secondary classrooms. Within a participatory action research model, this author shares the experience of delivering an online graduate-level curriculum design course framed in student choice. Education Specialist candidates chose content and assessment methods throughout the four-week course. Participants included this author and 37 in-service educators enrolled in two sections of the same course at a private college in the southeast. An on-going online discussion forum about the course design was the primary data source in the analysis of best practices for implementing choice in an online teacher education course. Student feedback, student work and instructor notes also contributed to the findings. In order for student choice to result in mastery of course standards, this author and participants suggest standards-based organization, clear assignment expectations and structured synchronous meetings are essential.
